


It's Nice to Have a Friend

by MilevenIsEndGame



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: AU, Meet-Cute, Mileven, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:33:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26832991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MilevenIsEndGame/pseuds/MilevenIsEndGame
Summary: Mike Wheeler never wanted to grow up and become his parents, but at twenty-six years old, he realized he'd done exactly that.  Difficult decisions were made.  A rough year was had.  And with the help of some very special little girls, and a new friend, Mike's life was about to change forever.A meet-cute that no one saw coming...
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 5
Kudos: 41





	It's Nice to Have a Friend

Mike Wheeler was so grateful that the first day of school at Perry Meridian was always a teacher work day. He was starting his fifth year with the district, and this particular first day had been perhaps the most nerve wracking first day of work he’d experienced since his very first year of teaching. He could not begin to imagine what it might have been like with a classroom full of new students all day long. It wasn’t that Mike wasn’t excited about the new school year. This year was just… different.

In previous school years, Mike had never been in this much of a hurry for his workday to end. He was active in after school activities a few days a week and always made ample time for his students. And while he also didn’t make it a point to over exert himself or work terribly long hours, he knew that home would be comfortably waiting for him once he got there.

Until it wasn’t. 

Until everything changed.

Now, it was different. Mike had somewhere he needed to be, and 3:15pm couldn’t come fast enough. 3:00pm... Hell, make it 2:55pm... The students wouldn’t be here until tomorrow, and Mike was paid on salary. Who would know or even care that he slipped out a little early on the first day; a teacher work day no less?

And so at 2:55pm, with his laptop securely packed in his bag that was slung over his shoulder, Mike peeked out of his classroom door to check that the coast was clear. Once he saw that it was, he locked up and quickly made his way out to his black Subara Outback in the faculty parking lot. His destination was just a short seven minutes driving distance away, and he was eager to get there quickly. 

Mike made it in five minutes instead and hurried inside after first parking his car.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Wheeler!” he was greeted by a cheery, dark-skinned, older woman sitting behind the front desk. He was quite bewildered that someone here already knew his name. “How was the first day?”

Mike, still taken aback, smiled warmly in return. “So far so good. Tomorrow is when the real fun starts.” He took note of the woman’s name tag: Jennifer.

“Oh, that’s right,” said Jennifer. “The students start back tomorrow, yeah?”

“That’s right,” said Mike. “The first day is always a teacher work day at Perry.”

Jennifer smiled. “That’s what I hear for a lot of them these days,” she said, “Well, I won’t keep you. I’m sure you’re ready to see that girl of yours and find out all about her first day, too!”

Mike grinned, grateful she hadn’t kept him any longer. She was right, after all. Jennifer was perfectly kind, but Mike didn’t leave work early and rush all this way just to chat with her; he was here for the most special person in his life. He couldn’t stop thinking about her all day, and he needed to get to her right away.

He simply nodded in acknowledgement to Jennifer’s comment and began walking down the long hallway to his destination. When he made it to the door, he found the room to be quiet, dark and empty. The light switches were turned off, and in the distance, Mike could hear faint sounds of laughter and play, and he needn’t look anymore. 

He made his way through the dark room to the back door that led outside. When he exited the room, he stepped out onto a beautiful playground, which had been the source of the happy sounds he was hearing. The biggest piece was a red and yellow jungle gym full of slides and climbers and monkey bars. There was a sandbox to his left, and swingsets on either side of the yard. There were children all around playing happily and enjoying the warm autumn day.

Mike scanned the playground intently, but there was no trace of the special person he was looking for. He stepped out onto the pavement and was nearly run over by two little boys racing past on tricycles. They reminded him of himself and his friends as children, and he couldn’t help but smile as he watched them ride away.

“Can I help you?” Mike turned his head to find a young woman wearing glasses with a long blonde ponytail approaching him, eyeing him suspiciously.

At that, Mike had to chuckle. She certainly wasn’t as nice as Jennifer at the front desk, but as a teacher, Mike understood; he was a strange man she had never seen before, and she was protective of the small children in her charge. Mike shook his head more at himself than at the young woman questioning him. “Hi,” he said. “I’m Mike Wheeler. I’m looking for-”

“DADDY!”

Before Mike had time to form the next thought, he was nearly knocked over by a little girl with long dark hair who’d tackled his long legs, wrapping her arms around them tightly.

“Your daughter, Bella?” Mike heard the protective blonde haired woman say as he managed to untangle the small girl from around his legs before kneeling down to scoop her up in his arms.

Mike chanced a look at the woman, who was now smiling at him. “Yes, my daughter Bella,” he confirmed. And then he turned his attention to her; the most special person in his life, “Hey, sweetheart!” He kissed her sweet little head. “How was your day?”

Bella giggled at her father’s affection, and she shrieked, “It was great, Daddy! I had so much fun!”

Mike smiled tenderly at his little girl. “Really?” he asked, relieved. Bella had never attended daycare before, and after the rough drop off earlier that morning, he’d been worried about her all day long.

“Yeah! I loved it loved it loved it! Can I come back tomorrow?”

Mike had to chuckle at her enthusiasm. “Bella, sweetheart, I am so glad to hear that you had such a great day! Of course, you can come back tomorrow. And the next day after that.”

“YAY! Adelyn! Adelyn, I get to come back tomorrow! And the next day!”

Mike furrowed his brow and looked at his daughter rather perplexedly. “Who is Adelyn?”

“She’s my best friend,” Bella offered matter-of-factly.

Mike smiled. “You mean to tell me you made a best friend on your very first day of school?”

“Yep! She’s right over there!”

Bella was pointing behind the blonde haired woman. Mike followed with his gaze, and sure enough, there was a little blonde haired girl with pigtails peeking out from behind the woman’s legs.

“Hi, there,” Mike called out to the little girl, who promptly hid her head behind the woman’s legs.

“She’s feeling a bit shy,” said the woman. 

Mike, who had been holding Bella in his arms all this time, placed the child down on the ground. “Bella,” he said to her, “Would you care to introduce me to your friend?” She nodded her head vigorously.

“Adelyn!” Bella called over to the little girl, holding her hand out to her. “Come meet my Daddy! He’s really nice. I promise!”

Adelyn smiled then and took Bella’s hand. She simply said, “hi,” to Mike when Bella led her to him.

Mike knelt to the ground so that he was eye level to the girls. “Hi, Adelyn,” he said. “It’s so nice to meet you.” He watched the little girl as her cheeks flushed pink. 

“It’s nice to meet you, too,” she said, head down.

“Thank you so much for being so kind to my daughter today,” Mike said, smiling. “I’m glad she made a friend on the first day of school.”

Adelyn giggled, and she was growing pinker by the minute. “You’re welcome,” she said, smiling prettily from ear to ear.

“Adelyn, you wanna go on the big slide with me one more time before I go home?” asked Bella.

“YEAH!”

“Can we, Daddy, please?”

“Sure,” said Mike. “Go as many times as you’d like. We can spare a few minutes.”

“Thanks, Daddy!” Bella shouted, grinning widely as she grabbed Adelyn by the hand. “Lets go!”

Mike watched the girls run off to the slides happily, unable to wipe the awed smile from his face.

“It’s funny,” he heard the blonde haired woman saying, “I’ve never seen Adelyn that shy before.”

Not really wanting to turn his attention away from the girls, but not wanting to be rude, either, he glanced over in the woman’s direction. “Oh?” he asked.

“She’s usually super bubbly and talkative. A real sweetheart,” she said. “I’m Ashley, by the way. I’m the assistant teacher in the 3’s class. I wasn’t here when you dropped Bella off with Miss Jackie this morning. She’s already left for the day, but I’ll probably be here most afternoons when you come to pick her up.”

“Oh,” said Mike, who was now trying to divide his attention between watching the girls play and actively listening to the woman who he’d just learned was named Ashley, and apparently one of Bella’s teachers. He offered his hand for her to shake. “Again, I’m Mike. It’s good to meet you.”

“Likewise,” said Ashley.

“How did her day go?” Mike asked, “I know she said it was great, and she seems really happy, obviously, but, you know… first day and all… She’s never been to daycare before.”

“Honestly, I’d say it went better than expected,” said Ashley. “Most kids who aren’t acclimated to daycare have a really tough first day, but Bella really did just fine. She ate well, and even had a good nap, which is great on her first day. She was quiet at first when I arrived this morning, but she made fast friends with Adelyn. They seem to have a lot in common already, and Adelyn has been with us since she was a tiny baby. She’ll show her the ropes.” 

Mike let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, that’s very reassuring. I was a nervous wreck all day long at work wondering how she was adjusting. It wasn’t an easy drop off this morning.”

Ashley was smiling, nodding her head knowingly. “I understand. The first day is always hard, but there’s no need to worry, Mike. I think she’s going to be just fine.”

“Thanks,” Mike said, returning his gaze back to the little girls playing together happily on the slides. “I think so, too.”

Ashley excused herself. She did have a playground full of children to attend to, after all. And loathe as Mike was to pull his daughter away from her new friend, they probably should get going. 

“Bella!” he called out to his daughter as he made his way over to the slides. “We should get going, sweetheart!”

“Awe, Daddy!” she pouted from the top of the tallest slide with Adelyn hot on her trail. “But I’m having so much fun!”

Mike grinned up at his little girl. “I can see that,” he said, “and trust me, sweetheart, I’m SO happy you’re having fun. But it’s time for us to go home now. You’ll be back tomorrow, first thing.”

Mike could see Bella’s little shoulders shrug as she sighed from above him. “You promise?”

Mike nodded his head. “I promise.”

“Okay, Daddy,” said Bella, and turning to Adelyn, Mike heard her not so quietly whisper, “Daddy always keeps his promises.”

As if that hadn’t pulled at his heartstrings enough, he then watched the two girls come down the slide together one last time and hug each other goodbye, promising that they would see each other tomorrow. 

Mike had just met this little girl not fifteen minutes prior, but he was so very grateful to her for helping make his Bella’s transition into daycare at least a little bit easier. Mike had tried his best to prepare her, taking time each day for the past week to talk to her about the impending change and what she could expect. And she had tried so very hard to be brave when it was time for him to drop her off earlier that morning, but she couldn’t manage to hold back a few tears as she hugged him and said, “Bye, Daddy.” Leaving her and holding back his own tears as he walked down the hallways of the center and out to his car had been one of the hardest things he had done so far in his nearly four years as a parent. And so when he rushed back to her at the end of the day, he fully expected to be consoling her after leaving her in a strange place all day with tears in her eyes, and yet, she was happy and laughing and she hadn’t wanted to leave.

So yes, Mike was definitely grateful for this quiet little girl in blonde pigtails who made his own little girl’s day a bit brighter. He couldn’t help but think back to his first day of kindergarten when he found a sad little boy on the playground who didn’t have any friends. More than twenty years later, that boy, now a grown-up man, was still one of Mike’s very best friends. He made a mental note to call Will later that day and check up on him, all the while wondering if maybe his daughter had found that same kind of friendship in little Adelyn today. He could only hope that was true, and it left a smile on his face as he loaded Bella into his car before making their way home.

  
  


&&&&&&&

El Hopper was having the worst day. Absolutely nothing was going right. She’d made it halfway to work before realizing she’d left her office keys at home, and after turning back to retrieve them, she ended up being late to an important meeting with a client and their family. And even though they were understanding about it, it did very little to make her feel better about the situation. El absolutely hated being late. But all in all, the meeting had gone well, so the day was salvageable. Right?

Wrong!

The day kept getting worse and worse. She had an unscheduled visit from the Department of Child Services for one of her clients, and of course they requested for her to be present. That was the life of a therapist at a residential treatment facility, so considering how her day was going, she needn’t have been surprised.

And to top everything off, she hadn’t brought her own lunch from home, and that particular unscheduled meeting had caused her to miss lunch in the cafeteria on campus, and there was no time to run out and get anything before her next meeting, either. She managed to grab a granola bar from the vending machine in the staff lounge before rushing off to her afternoon group therapy session, and by 3:45pm, she was flustered and starving and she’d simply had  _ enough _ ; she was leaving for the day.

She walked out the door of Pleasant Run Treatment Facility determined to leave all the day’s negativity behind her and in desperate need of comfort. Her first stop was the drive-thru line at Chick-Fil-A, and by the time she made it to the pick-up window at the Starbucks next door for her venti salted caramel mocha frappuccino, she had already devoured her spicy chicken sandwich. With her stomach satisfied as she pleasantly sipped on her delicious coffee, she was off to her final stop before home, and for the last piece of the puzzle to the comfort she so desperately needed; the best part of every single day when she would be reunited with her favorite person in the whole world. And boy, could she really use a hug today!

She pulled up outside of the white building with the blue roof just as she had done most every afternoon for the past three years. She walked inside where she was greeted by the receptionist who’d known her by her first name at this point from how often they’d seen each other on a daily basis. 

After exchanging quick pleasantries, El walked down the familiar hallways passing by several doors she had previously stopped at throughout the years until she found her destination. The room was calm and dark like it had been lately upon her arrival, and she took a moment to think about how that would soon be changing as the days were growing colder.

She made it to the back door of the room and stepped outside to a world less calm, full of squeals, laughter, and joy. And finally, she found who she was looking for. 

“Adelyn!” El called out to her with a wave of her hand.

“MOMMA!”

The little girl with her blonde pigtails hopped off the tricycle she’d been riding along the pavement and ran merrily to her mother. El was already kneeling down to Adelyn’s eye level as the little girl collided into her arms, and just like that, any lingering hints of the bad day she’d been having simply vanished as she embraced her favorite person in the whole entire world.

“I missed you so much today,” El said softly before placing a kiss on Adelyn’s temple.

“I missed you, too, Mommy!” she said before returning a kiss to her mother’s cheek, as she often did after anytime El kissed her. “Guess what!”

Still holding Adelyn in her arms, El pulled back enough to look at her little girl’s sweet face. “What?” she asked quietly with a raise of her eyebrows as though the two of them were conspiring together.

“I made a new friend today!”

El’s eyes grew wide and she let out an excited gasp. “You did?!”

Adelyn began nodding her head vigorously. “Uh-huh!” she giggled. “I did!”

“Awe, baby,” El cooed, “That’s so great!”

Out of the corner of her eye, El saw Miss Ashley walking up to them as she often did in the afternoons. “Let me guess. She’s telling you all about her new friend Bella?”

El smiled up at Ashley, “She is!” She looked back to Adelyn. “Is that your new friend’s name? Bella?”

“Yep!”

“Today was Bella’s first day, and Adelyn was a great friend and made her feel right at home,” said Ashley. “You should be very proud of her!”

“Awe,” El cooed once more. “I am! Adelyn, baby, that was so nice of you. The first day in a new place can be really scary. I’m so proud of you for being a good friend to Bella.”

“She’s my  _ best _ friend, Mommy! And her Daddy said she can come back tomorrow!”

“Yes,” said Ashley, “Don’t you worry, kiddo. Bella will be here to play with you every day!”

At those words, Adelyn began jumping in place before shouting, “YAY!”

El giggled. She was simply delighted to see her little one so excited. “Well, if she’s your best friend, we’ll have to talk to her parents about having some play dates now, won’t we?”

Adelyn gasped. “Really, Mommy? Really?!”

“Of course!”

“Thank you, Mommy!” Adelyn beamed, “ I love you!”

_ There it was. _ That’s  _ exactly  _ what El needed. She smiled warmly at the sweet little girl standing before her, wondering how on earth she got so lucky as to be her Mommy.

“I love you, too,” she said, “So, so, so much!” El wrapped her arms even more tightly around Adelyn’s little frame and peppered her face with kisses. Adelyn’s giggles in response to this affection were music to her ears. “Okay, baby,” El said as she pulled away, “I can’t wait to hear all about your new best friend Bella, but we should go. I have a surprise for you in the car.”

Adelyn stilled, and her brown eyes grew comically large before whisper-asking, “Did you go to Starbucks?”

El giggled. “How did you guess?”

“Because you always go to Starbucks, Momma!”

“Uh-huh,” El said as she playfully rolled her eyes in response to Adelyn’s laughter. “Come on! That vanilla bean frap isn’t going to drink itself.”

They said their goodbyes to Miss Ashley and walked hand in hand back into the building and out the front doors to El’s silver Kia Soul. They sipped on their frappuccinos and talked more about Adelyn’s day as El drove the five minutes it took to get from the daycare center to their house.

Once they were home, El changed into sweats and let Adelyn pick a movie for them to cuddle up to on Netflix. After Bolt was over, El made Adelyn’s favorite lazy night dinner; Spaghetti-O's and grilled cheese sandwiches. She let her have extra play time in her bath that night, and she even read three whole stories to her before tucking her into bed, not bringing herself to leave the room until she’d watched her dear girl fall fast asleep.

This was exactly what El had needed. She might have been a therapist by profession, but at the end of a long hard day, Adelyn was all the therapy she needed herself. God, how did she get so lucky?

  
  


&&&&&&&

  
  


After Bella was sleeping soundly, Mike took to tidying up the apartment and getting everything prepped for the next morning. His shoes were shined, with his slacks, shirt and tie pressed and ready to go. He’d also taken care to have Bella’s clothes set out and ready for the next morning, and while she’d been playing earlier in the evening, Mike had prepped his lunches for the rest of the short work week and divided them into different tupperware containers.

Now he was sitting at his desk in his room. He had his agenda laid out in front of him with a list of all the first day guidelines he’d come up with.

  1. Arrive early.
  2. Write his name on the board first thing so that his students could learn it right away.
  3. Place back to school crossword puzzles on each desk before the start of each class so that the students are actively engaged right away.
  4. Greet every student at the door with pleasantries while taking attendance as they each arrive. Welcome them to get settled in and choose any seat they’d like.
  5. Ice-breaking “getting to know each other” activity.
  6. Rules, expectations, and supplies.



Mike skimmed over his list, satisfied with his plan for the first day. It also made him think back to his own first day as a middle school student, and how he’d fashioned number four after his science teacher, Mr. Clarke, which led him to think about his three best friends.

Out of the four childhood best friends, Mike and Lucas were the only two still in Indiana, and fortunately enough, they were both living in the same city. Mike at present was residing on the southside of Indianapolis, and Lucas shared an apartment on the north side with his high school sweetheart, Max. Mike had had a rough start with her when she first moved to their small town back in eighth grade. He wasn’t too keen about having some girl come in and steal one of his best friends away, but over the years they’d matured and grown closer, and he now considered Max a very dear and loyal friend. It was nice having them both nearby. 

After college, Dustin moved down to Indianapolis from Lafayette where he’d spent the last four years at Purdue University. He had taken up the spare room in Lucas and Max’s apartment briefly before rekindling a long distance relationship with his former middle school summer camp girlfriend, Suzie. It was nice having three original members of the party in the same city while it lasted, but it wasn’t long until Dustin moved to Salt Lake City to be with his girlfriend, and they’d gotten married just this past March. 

The first of Mike’s best friends, however, the very first one he met all those years ago when they were little boys on the playground back in kindergarten was Will Byers. Fate would see fit to keep Mike and Will close no matter how many miles were between them, because Mike’s older sister Nancy had fallen in love with Will’s older brother Jonathan, and they had been married now for the past five years in New York City. Will was there with them, too, busting his ass as a very happy starving artist. At this rate, what with Nancy and Jonathan’s nuptials, Mike and Will felt like they were practically brothers, and more often than not, their families would all get together back in their hometown to celebrate the holidays with each other.

Mike remembered the mental note he’d made earlier in the day to call Will. He pulled out his iPhone and scrolled through his contacts until his thumb landed on Will’s name. It was only 9:45pm, so he had time, and he was sure that with the hours Will kept, he’d pick up if he wasn’t busy. 

Mike connected the call. It rang three times before he heard Will’s voice pick up on the other end. “Wheeler!” he exclaimed into Mike’s ear. “How’s it going, man?”

“Hey, man!” Mike smiled. It was good to hear Will’s voice. “It’s going,” he said.

“Everything okay?” Will asked, sounding just slightly worried.

Mike shook his head before he remembered that Will couldn’t see it. “Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine. You know, it’s just been a long busy day. School starts tomorrow, so...”

“Oh, no shit? Summer’s over already?”

“I know, man.” Mike sighed into the receiver. “It went by fast.”

Will was quiet on the other end for a moment. “What are you gonna do with Bella?”

Mike smiled. It shouldn’t come to any surprise that Will would be concerned about Bella’s well being. He was practically family, what with his older brother being Bella’s actual uncle by marriage, but he along with both Lucas and Dustin had been Bella’s honorary uncles from day one. “Believe it or not, today was actually her first day at daycare.”

“Daycare?” Will asked. “I’m confused. Isn’t she a bit old for that?”

“What?” Mike scrunched his face up in confusion himself. “She’s three, Will. What are you talking about.”

“No, I know. I’m just saying, isn’t daycare like... for babies? I thought maybe she’d be starting preschool or something.”

“Oh!’ Realization consumed Mike in that moment. He was the only one of his friends who’d had a kid. Plus, he was a teacher for a living. Of course he’d be better versed on the subject of childcare than them. “Well, no, this is like a daycare-slash-preschool,” Mike explained. “One of those official ones, you know? They take babies as young as six weeks old I think? And kids up to age twelve, I think it was.”

“Twelve year olds at a daycare?” Mike could practically see Will rolling his eyes.

“After school care,” Mike corrected. “Busses pick them up from school and take them to the center until their parents can get off work and come pick them up themselves.”

“Jesus, what the hell even  _ is _ that? We were riding our bikes home from school at twelve years old, and it didn’t matter if our parents were home or not when we got there because we’d just let ourselves in with our  _ own _ key.”

“Right?” Mike could recall those days all too well, although they weren’t even that long ago. But they’d also grown up in a small town that had been perfectly bike accessible to them as twelve year old boys. They both lived in big cities now, and kids grew up differently these days. “It’s a sign of the times, man.”

“No shit, dude,” Will said as he sighed into the receiver. “Anyway, how did it go? Does Bella like this daycare place that’s not for babies?”

“Oh, ha-ha,” Mike rolled his eyes in mock humor as he sat back a little further into his desk chair. “That’s actually the reason for my call.”

“Oh?” Mike seemed to have piqued Will’s curiosity. 

“Do you remember how we met on the first day of kindergarten?” Mike asked, brushing back the hair that had fallen into his face with his hand.

“Sure, Mike. I remember. I was all alone on the swings, and you were alone, too. And you came over and asked if I wanted to be friends.”

Mike smiled at the memory, and he was glad that Will could remember it just as vividly as he did. “Still to this day, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done,” he said.

“Awe, Michael, don’t go making me blush, now,” Will teased.

Mike shook his head. “No, dude, I mean it. And sending Bella off to daycare today? It was rough, man. She cried when I dropped her off and I could hardly focus on anything else all day long. I just felt so guilty for leaving her there. I remember how scared and alone I felt on that first day of school, you know?”

“Sure,” Will said, his understanding perfectly apparent in his tone. “I felt the same way.”

“Right. But when I went to pick her up… Will, she was smiling and laughing and  _ so _ happy. A complete 180 from how I left her this morning. She met this little girl who she says is her best friend, and I had to practically drag her away from the playground when we left. She made me promise I would bring her back the next day, and I don’t know man… It just made me think of that first day when we met, and I am just so relieved that she had someone there for her.”

“Definitely. I might not have kids, but I remember what it was like to be one, so I get it, Mike. It sounds like she had a really great first day.”

“Yeah man,” Mike smiled, nodding even though Will couldn’t see him. “She really did.”

“You’re killing it,” Will said after a moment. “You know this, right?”

“Eh,” Mike shrugged his shoulders. “I’m doing okay; the best that I can. But hey, enough about me. How about you? What are the latest happenings in the life of Will Byers?”

“Oh, you know me. Living off coffee and baguettes like always and doing what I love to do every day. Life is grand, yeah.” 

“The glamorous life of the starving artist,” Mike chuckled. It was a big talk, and Mike knew better. Even if Will had been a literal starving artist, he lived in close enough proximity to Nancy and Jonathan, and Mike knew they would never let Will go without. But Mike humored him anyway.

“What can I say? I’m living my best life, man. I even managed to snag myself a date for this weekend.”

“Wait, what?!” Mike practically yelled the question into the receiver. “Did you and Zoey break up?”

“Oh… did I not mention that?”

“Uh, no?!”

“Ah, well... Listen, I had a really great experience with Zoey. I enjoyed her. I really did. I cherished the time I had with her. I even loved her, in a way. I still do. But no matter how much I wanted it to be… It just wasn’t really me, you know?”

“Yeah. I get it.” Mike understood perfectly. “Too bad, though,” he said. “I really liked her.”

“Yeah,” Will sighed into Mike’s ear from the other end of the phone. “Me, too. But it was for the best. She deserves someone who can give her all of himself, and that someone just... isn’t me.”

Mike nodded his head in understanding, forgetting for what felt like at least the tenth time that night that Will couldn’t see him, let alone his gestures. It really was too bad that he and Zoey broke up. Mike had only met her in person twice; the first time when Will brought her home for Thanksgiving last year, and then again at Dustin and Suzie’s wedding back in March. And of course she could be heard in the background during phone conversations, and she’d popped into view a time or two during face-time calls. Mike had really liked her, though, and so had all the rest of their friends. She seemed to have made Will really happy. At least, as happy as he could have been.

“No, man, I completely understand. You did the right thing,” Mike said, and after a moment, he added, “So, tell me about this-”

“His name is Ethan,” Will supplied, not missing a beat, and Mike chuckled. “He’s from Maine. He’s shorter than me. Virgo. Med student.”

Mike whistled into the receiver. “Wow, a med student?” 

“Yup. Final year. And also, he’s fucking gorgeous.”

Mike chuckled. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”

“Suit yourself.”

“Thank you, I will,” Mike insisted, causing Will to laugh out loud.

And by chance, Mike just happened to glance at the time on the bottom right hand corner of his laptop’s screen that was sitting on the desk in front of him. It was already 10:17pm. Had he really been talking to Will on the phone for more than half an hour? “Hey man, I just noticed the time. I should probably get to bed. I need to be at work early tomorrow morning.”

“Okay. Thanks for the call, Mike. It was good to catch up.”

“Yeah, same here. Apparently we need to do it more often since I had no idea that you broke up with your girlfriend.”

Mike could hear Will chuckle from the other end of the phone. “Sorry. You’re right! To be fair though, it’s only been a few weeks.”

“Still…” 

“I know. I’ll call you later this weekend and let you know how my date with Ethan went.”

“Cool, man. Sounds good. Night, Will.”

“Night, Mike.”

Mike ended the call and plugged his phone into the charger on his bedside nightstand. After that, he went back and made sure the apartment was locked up and all the lights were turned out. He peeked inside Bella’s room, too, and she was sleeping just as soundly as when he’d left her a couple of hours prior. He just stood there for a moment watching her sleep and reflecting on the events of the day. 

He still couldn’t get over how he had dropped Bella off at daycare that morning with tears in her eyes ( _ both _ of their eyes, if he was being honest) and then by the time he’d gone to pick her up, she was so happy that she hadn’t wanted to leave. Bella was certainly a resilient child and Mike was completely awed with the remarkable little human being that his daughter was becoming. It had been a really rough year for the both of them, but Mike knew that so long as they had each other, and maybe with the help of good friends old and new, they were both going to be just fine.

If only he knew just how right he was.

  
  


  
  


**Author's Note:**

> SO... what do you guys think?!?!?!? I am SO excited to write this story. I've been thinking about it for a really long time, and it's so very close to my heart. I feel like this first chapter might be a slow start, but I hope you'll find it was worth it in the end. 
> 
> I think this story is going to be about three to five chapters. I haven't written a lot of fics and I am always my worst critic. Any words of encouragement to help keep me motivated are greatly appreciated! Thank you!
> 
> I hope you love it! <3


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